World War II

Extracted Attributes

• End Date

  1945-09-02

• Start Date

  1939-09-01

• Major Genocides

  The Holocaust (Millions of Jewish people and other groups)

• Key Technologies

  Nuclear weapons, tanks, strategic aircraft, radar, software-defined hardware (historical precursor)

• Total Fatalities

  60,000,000 to 75,000,000 (Deadliest conflict in history)

• Primary Belligerents

  Allied Powers (UK, France, USSR, US, China) vs. Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, Japan)

• Post-War Organizations

  United Nations (Founded 1945-10-24)

Timeline

• Japan invades Manchuria, a key precursor to the global conflict. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1931-09-18

• Germany invades Poland, marking the official start of World War II in Europe. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1939-09-01

• The United Kingdom and France declare war on Germany. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1939-09-03

• Germany invades the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, opening the Eastern Front. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1941-06-22

• Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, leading the United States to enter the war. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1941-12-07

• The Battle of Midway occurs, halting Japanese advances in the Pacific. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1942-06-04

• Axis forces are defeated at Stalingrad, a major turning point on the Eastern Front. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1943-02-02

• Allied forces launch the Normandy landings (D-Day) in France. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1944-06-06

• Germany surrenders unconditionally to the Allies (V-E Day). (Source: Wikipedia)

  1945-05-08

• The United States drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1945-08-06

• The United States drops a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1945-08-09

• Japan signs the formal instrument of surrender on the USS Missouri, ending the war. (Source: Gilder Lehrman Institute)

  1945-09-02

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945), was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes. The causes of World War II included unresolved tensions in the aftermath of World War I and the rise of fascism in Europe and militarism in Japan. Key events preceding the war included Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the Spanish Civil War, the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, and Germany's annexations of Austria and the Sudetenland. World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, when Nazi Germany, under Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland, after which the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany. Poland was also invaded by the Soviet Union in mid-September and was partitioned between Germany and the Soviet Union under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. In 1940, the Soviet Union annexed the Baltic states and parts of Finland and Romania, while Germany conquered Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. After the fall of France in June 1940, the war continued mainly between Germany, now assisted by Fascist Italy, and the British Empire or British Commonwealth, with fighting in the Balkans, Mediterranean, and Middle East, East Africa, the aerial Battle of Britain and the Blitz, and the naval Battle of the Atlantic. By mid-1941, Yugoslavia and Greece had also been defeated by Axis countries. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, opening the Eastern Front. In December 1941, Japan attacked American and British territories in Asia and the Pacific, including Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, leading the United States to enter the war against the Axis. Japan conquered much of coastal China and Southeast Asia, but its advances in the Pacific were halted in June 1942 at the Battle of Midway. In early 1943, Axis forces were defeated in North Africa and at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. An Allied invasion of Italy in July resulted in the fall of its fascist regime, and Allied offensives in the Pacific and the Soviet Union forced the Axis to retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded France at Normandy, and the Soviet Union advanced into Central Europe. During the same period, Japan suffered major setbacks, including the crippling of its navy by the United States, the loss of key Western Pacific islands, and defeats in South-Central China and Burma. The war in Europe concluded with the liberation of German-occupied territories and the invasion of Germany by the Allies, which culminated in the fall of Berlin to Soviet troops and Germany's unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945. On 6 and 9 August, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. Japan announced its unconditional surrender on 15 August and signed a surrender document on 2 September 1945. World War II transformed the political, economic, and social structures of the world, and established the foundation of international relations for the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century. The United Nations was created to foster international cooperation and prevent future conflicts, with the victorious great powers—China, France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the US—becoming the permanent members of its Security Council. The Soviet Union and the US emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War. In the wake of Europe's devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and of Asia. Many countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery and expansion.

Web Search Results

• World War II - Wikipedia

  World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II is the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes. [...] Most historians agree that World War II began with the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and the British "United Kingdom declaration of war on Germany (1939)") and French "French declaration of war on Germany (1939)") declarations of war on Germany two days later. Dates for the beginning of the Pacific War include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the earlier Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 18 September 1931. Other proposed starting dates include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939. Others view the Spanish Civil War as the start or [...] The causes of World War II included unresolved tensions in the aftermath of World War I, and the rise of fascism in Europe and militarism in Japan. Key events preceding the war included Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the Spanish Civil War, the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, and Germany's annexations of Austria and the Sudetenland. World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, when Nazi Germany, under Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland, after which the United Kingdom "United Kingdom declaration of war on Germany (1939)") and France declared war "French declaration of war on Germany (1939)") on Germany. Poland was also invaded by the Soviet Union in mid-September, and was partitioned between Germany and the Soviet Union under the

• World War II | Facts, Summary, History, Dates, Combatants, & Causes | Britannica

  World War II, conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939–45. The war was in many respects a continuation, after an uneasy 20-year hiatus, of the disputes left unsettled by World War I. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China (after the war, these countries would become the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council). The total nature of World War II meant that civilian populations not only contributed to the war effort but also became direct targets of aerial attack. Moreover, in 1941 the Nazi regime unleashed a war of extermination against Jews, Slavs, and other people deemed inferior by Hitler’s ideology, while [...] other people deemed inferior by Hitler’s ideology, while Stalinist Russia extended its campaign of terror against Ukrainians to the conquered Poles. The 40,000,000–50,000,000 deaths incurred in World War II make it the bloodiest conflict, as well as the largest war, in history. [...] Having achieved this cynical agreement, the other provisions of which stupefied Europe even without divulgence of the secret protocol, Hitler thought that Germany could attack Poland with no danger of Soviet or British intervention and gave orders for the invasion to start on August 26. News of the signing, on August 25, of a formal treaty of mutual assistance between Great Britain and Poland (to supersede a previous though temporary agreement) caused him to postpone the start of hostilities for a few days. He was still determined, however, to ignore the diplomatic efforts of the western powers to restrain him. Finally, at 12:40 pm on August 31, 1939, Hitler ordered hostilities against Poland to start at 4:45 the next morning. The invasion began as ordered. In response, Great Britain and

• World War II | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

  World War II was the central event of the twentieth century. It involved all six major continents, all three of the great oceans on the planet, scores of countries, and billions of people. It caused 57 million deaths and unimaginable human suffering. It brought about the redrawing of national boundaries in Europe and Asia, forced the relocation of many ethnic groups, made millions of families homeless, and led to the virtual annihilation of the Jewish population of Europe. By the time it was over in 1945, Tokyo, Berlin, Hamburg, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Warsaw, Hiroshima, Dresden, Dusseldorf, Nagasaki, Osaka, Manila, Cologne, and dozens of other great cities had been obliterated. And population centers that had mostly avoided the worst of the death and destruction continued to see poverty [...] May 1940 remains one of the most incredible events in all of military history. France sued for peace in June, and Hitler’s victorious troops marched past the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. [...] too few and too late. And after President Harry S. Truman (FDR had died in April 1945) ordered atomic bombs to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, even the most fanatical Japanese militarist had to realize that further resistance was madness. On August 14, 1945, Truman announced over the radio that the war was over. On September 2, 1945, on the deck of the great battleship, the USS Missouri, representatives of the Japanese government signed the formal instrument of surrender. World War II had ended.

• World War II | Great Depression and World War II, 1929 to 1945 | U.S. History Primary Source Timeline | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress

  U.S. involvement in the Second World War was quickly followed by a massive mobilization effort. With millions of men and women serving overseas in the nation's armed forces, most of those who remained at home dedicated themselves to supporting the war effort in whatever means was available to them. Women, who had worked as homemakers or had held jobs outside military-related industries, took jobs in aircraft manufacturing plants, munitions plants, military uniform production factories, and so on. As the need for steel and other resources increased, American citizens participated in rationing programs, as well as recycling and scrap metal drives. Americans also supported the war effort with their hard-earned dollars by purchasing Liberty bonds. Sold by the U.S. government, the bonds raised [...] + War Relocation Center, Manzanar, California + Japanese-American camp, war emergency evacuation, Tule Lake Relocation Center, Newell, Calif. Letter, Franklin D. Roosevelt to J. Robert Oppenheimer General George S. Patton, Diary Entry Tuskegee Airmen [...] The U.S. entry into the war helped to get the nation's economy back on its feet following the depression. Although just ten years earlier, jobs were very difficult to come by, there were now jobs for nearly everyone who wanted one. With the creation of 17 million new jobs during the war, workers were afforded the opportunity to pay off old debts, as well as to begin saving some of their earnings.

• AP® World History Review: Causes of World War II | Albert Blog & Resources

  | Germany | Invasion of Poland | Sept. 1, 1939 | Britain and France declared war | The immediate trigger of WWII in Europe | [...] Table of Contents World War II didn’t emerge overnight. It was the product of long-term resentments, economic collapse, and a failure of international resolve. The AP® World History exam tests your ability to see these causes clearly. Topic 7.6 appears regularly on both MCQ and FRQ sections, typically as a comparative question (comparing WWII causes to WWI causes) or as a prompt asking you to explain how multiple factors combined to destabilize the international order. You need to understand not just what happened, but why each cause mattered. [...] This article covers Topic 7.6: Causes of World War II (8-10% of exam weight). You’ll learn the long-term structural causes rooted in the Treaty of Versailles, the short-term triggers of aggressive expansionism, how economic depression radicalized populations, and why democracies failed to stop totalitarian regimes before it was too late. ## The Treaty of Versailles and German Resentment

• Instance Of

  Q4167410